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CARE Program: Overview

The underlying premise, which forms the foundation of this training program, is a shortage of highly trained scientists with cross-training in three synergistic disciplines: 1) engineering, 2) cardiovascular science, and 3) entrepreneurship. Our primary goal is to train a relatively small number of highly qualified individuals who can produce quality and impactful research in cardiovascular science and technology. Additionally, trainees will also develop an enhanced skill set to assess the translational potential of cardiovascular research, and will thus be able to communicate more effectively with entrepreneurial professionals. This level of “fluency” in entrepreneurship is a unique feature of our training program. Through this fluency, the training program is able to accelerate the development of cardiovascular technology to treat and diagnose cardiovascular disease. We refer to our program as Cardiovascular Applied Research and Entrepreneurship, or the acronym CARE.

Background

The current training paradigm for individuals able to engineer new cardiovascular technology has two typical pathways: clinical training or formal education as an engineer. Clinical training is demanding and rightly focuses on training individuals who deliver cardiovascular healthcare. Cardiovascular clinicians are normally the first to recognize a shortcoming in available technology, but generally do not have the skill or training in engineering or business.

When receiving formal training as an engineer (e.g., biomedical engineering) at bachelors through doctoral levels, an individuals’ core “language” is shaped by the vocabulary of engineering science and design principles with some limited understanding of the cardiovascular system. Often this individual is the first to recognize an exciting new technology, but lacks the business acumen or knowledge of clinical applications to understand the translational potential.

The CARE Training Program is designed to bridge the knowledge and fluency gaps not only between these two current traditional pathways, but also in the area of entrepreneurship. The expectation is that these individuals will produce quality and impactful research in cardiovascular science and technology, as well as develop an enhanced skill set to assess the translational potential of cardiovascular research, and will thus be able to communicate more effectively with entrepreneurial professionals.

Research Highlights

Professor and Center Director Christopher Hughes receives NIH Tissue Chip Award to develop novel microfluidic platforms for studying various vascular malformations, including hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and port-wine stain. This platform will provide a new tool to help researchers understand, treat and ultimately prevent these often disfiguring — and, all too frequently, fatal — anomalies. Completion of this project will yield platforms with the potential to transform drug discovery and testing for two rare diseases that currently have very little support from the pharmaceutical industry. Professor Hughes hopes to make significant advances on behalf of HHT and PWS patients.